Till 2017, Medical Council of India allowed only candidates with below 70% disability of the lower limbs to study medicine.

It may be noted here that rules for Medical education in European and Central Asian countries encourage people with Physical disability to become Doctors and many such Indian students apply for MBBS in Kyrgyzstan and MBBS in Europe.

According to news reports dated 25 January, 2018 he Ministry of Health has asked Medical Council of India to reverse it’s order barring candidates from National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) to appear for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, NEET 2018.

Official notification of the same is awaited.

On 09 August, 2017, Medical Council of India had issued an order that made students studying in open schools ineligible for NEET 2018 examination.

Every year thousand of students from NIOS appear for NEET and NIOS certificates are also accepted for MBBS abroad by Foreign Medical Universities.

Students of Orissa domicile looking to take admission in AYUSH courses (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) will have to appear National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) from 2018 onwards.

A notification to this regard has beein issued by The State Health and Family Welfare Department informing the Chairman of Odisha Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE) to cancel its earlier notice for the examinations for admission into Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) and Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery (BHMS).

The notification has been made as per the direction of Union Ministry of AYUSH, which states that admission into AYUSH under graduate courses shall be compulsory through NEET merit list from 2018-19 academic year.

Every year students from Odisha appear for NEET entrance exam and after failing to get admission in MBBS course in India opt for MBBS abroad and MBBS in Kyrgyzstan is a popular destination with students from the state.

Medical Council of India (MCI) has written a letter to The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) it has pointed out that that NIOS students would not be on par with those from the regular mode, as they do not have practical lessons. “…they would be ineligible for NEET on equitable basis,” reads the letter sent in 2017.

According to NIOS officials, in the past, MCI board of governors had said if the required criteria of graduate medical education regulation is fulfilled by students appearing in 10+2 exams then they would be eligible for admission.

As of now, the Medical Council of India (MCI) has barred students who have completed class 12 examination through open and distance mode from attending common medical entrance examination (NEET).

The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS)comes under the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry and this decision will deprive thousands of students the opportunity to pursue medical education.

In 2017, nearly 3,000 candidates from NIOS had registered for NEET 2017 and 86^ had qualified the NEET, 2017.

The Rajasthan High Court has recently order a CBI probe into the allegations of widespread fraud in the 2015 MBBS Admission process.

The High Court has take a very stern view and has stated that Colleges which gave admissions will be de-recognized..

The Court has also directed the Medical Council of India (MCI) to cancel the registration of colleges which fraudulently gave admission for MBBS seats. A time frame of 6 months has been set for this.

According to the petitioners the 2015 entrance exam was conducted by MDS University, Ajmer and despite scoring top ranks, the petitioners were not given admissions in MBBS or BDS whereas many students who had secured just 5-15% were given admission.

Some students had not even participated in the test, but got admission.

The court said that it was surprising to know MCI didn’t take any concrete action.

A group of students from different states of India have approached the Supreme Court of India questioning the validity of the decision of CBSE to fix the upper age limit to 25 years for appearing in NEET Entrance Exam.

In the petition they have pointed out there is no upper age restriction for appearing for entrance examination of other medical colleges like All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER).

The petition further states that there in no upper age limited for studying Medicine in countries like USA, UK, Canada etc. and there is no reason to prove that a person beyond the age of 25 years is not competent to become a Doctor.

The petition also states that there is no upper age limit to appear for IIT etc. Also, there is no age bar for students to undertake their medicine courses from other countries and come back to India and get them enrolled as medical practitioner in India after clearing the screening tests.

It may be noted here that many students from India go for MBBS Abroad as they fail to get MBBS admission here and MBBS in Europe is a popular destination among many Medical aspirants.

Kerala has announced that NEET UG 2018 is compulsory for all candidates in Kerala to be eligible for admissions in the Pharmacy, Medical and allied courses in Kerala like MBBS, BDS, Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Siddhi, Unani etc.

It is important to note that all interested candidates also have to apply online on KEAM official website to be eligible for being considered for admission.

Last date to apply for the same online is 28 February 2018 and the candidates are required to send supporting documents by 31 March, 2018.

Candidates who appear for NEET UG 2018 but do not register will not be eligible for counseling.

Every year thousand of students from Kerala apply for studying MBBS abroad and many of them take MBBS admission abroad as there are limited medical seats in Kerala.